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So when I started my gap year I had always planned to go traveling, but as I started working I realised that, while you can buy a lot of clothes, shoes, electronics and beer with a full time job and no rent, and still have leftover money, almost all of it would go if I decided to go traveling for a few months.
Spending as much money on traveling as my student loan will cover for a year of living while I'm at university seems so expensive, especially when I could invest it for the future or supplement my living costs with it. So while I did want to go traveling I kept putting off booking it 'till later'. Now its March and I was speaking with a friend, who'll be traveling to Brazil soon, and he told me that he went through the same thoughts, but then he reminded himself that he'd given up going to university for £3500 a year (fees are now as much as £9000) in order to take a gap year and it would have seemed like a huge waste if he didn't go traveling.
And he's right, I've learned so much and developed so much a person in just 6 months, but I would look back at this year and feel regret if I'd just worked a low-wage job for a few months and then gone to university and ended up with £17k more debt.
So that's it, I'm going traveling, I have money saved up I need to book soon, but I don't know exactly what I want to do. That's where you come in Team Liquid, you live all over the world and can help advise me about where I should go and what I should see.
I've narrowed it down to East or South-east Asia but that still leaves so much to do. South Korea (surprise surprise!) or Japan would be the most interesting places to me, but I've heard that the living costs, particularly in Japan, are much higher than in other East and South-East Asian countries like China, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. China is an interesting choice for me, there is obviously sooooo much to see that it would probably take years to go and see everything you wanted to, and I know that some family friends managed to travel around south China while spending about £10 per day for 3 of them, but I've also heard that there isn't much to see in Chinese cities and that it can be quite difficult to travel around the country without speaking Chinese. I'm also imagining that those sites that are easy to get to for foreigners will be really really touristy and that's really not what I want.
I've seen pictures of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, and they are just stunningly beautiful. They are also close together so I'd be able to visit travel between them by bus, and they are well known as gap year countries so I'm imagining it will be fairly easy to get to everywhere I want to see.
That's my probably terrible analysis of all the countries I'm considering but I know for a fact that there will be TLers who are from or have visited all of these countries and I'm wondering what you think I'll like.
At the end of the day I'm not into a lot of touristy things, I mean I'll try them, I'll go to that Buddhist temple, but maybe I won't go to that 4th Buddhist temple that is a bit different to the other 3. I just want to travel around a beautiful country, maybe several countries if costs allow, experience a different culture, eat some different food, see some interesting things, maybe meet some interesting people and just enjoy myself.
Also I don't really know how long I want to go away for, I think I'd leave in May and I'd want to go for minimum 6 weeks, maximum I don't know I guess I'd like to be back in London for when the summer really kicks in and for the Olympics but I don't even know if I'd want to have a flight booked back until I'm actually there. I think having a general plan and some possible ideas for other things to do will make the trip a lot more enjoyable since I won't end up missing out due to a strict schedule.
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Cool idea bro, I will be doing a similar trip to Asia in a few months.
You willing to get your hands dirty and do some work? In that case Japan doesn't have to be that expensive.
There's organizations that allow you to work for host families (generally farms and similar, physical labour) and in return you get to live with them for free. (Shelter and food.)
If you dislike touristy stuff, this might be a good idea since you will actually be living with real, authentic Japanese families that can be very traditional and true to their roots. Communication might be an issue, depending on the family, but there are families with decent English out there aswell. Though that in my opinion kills some of the fun.
It also fits your other criteria of trying out different food, meeting new people, and seeing some intresting things. (Who better to guide you then the locals to see some cool shit?)
I plan on doing this myself while in Japan. (Will be leaving in a few months.)
Anyways, if your interested, I can show you to one of these organisations.
I've also been China. Though my stay there was limited, I think there is definently much to see in China. And who says you have to go for Chinese cities? China is a massive country with enough stuff for a decade of exploring. You just need to decide what's interesting to you and go for it.
You are correct about the language barrier though, can be frustrating at times. But personally I think good planning and preparing can overcome that.
Anyways, your absolutely correct in doing this trip, it's gonna be great.
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As I'm currently living in Vietnam, I'll chime in with my (biased) opinion about the country. I'm currently an English teacher living in Ho Chi Minh City. I work with many British teachers who took the CELTA or TESOL and came back to teach.
Living expenses are relatively cheap. I'm currently paying $250US + utilities for a flat whereas others are paying around $300-$350 for a shared house. Food is cheap which you can get an alright meal for $1.00-$1.50 for Vietnamese food. More western food will obviosly cost more. A combo meal at KFC is $3.50. You can rent a motorbike for about $50/month.
Although I've lived here for 2 years, I haven't done as much traveling as I wanted. Most of the teachers I work with use Vietnam as a base to travel to most of Southeast Asia such as Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, etc. Traveling within Vietnam is quite cheap as there are many places to go. I've personally been from the central region on down such as Dalat (in the mountains), Nha Trang (beaches and islands), Mekong Delta, Hoi An, Hue (old capital), and Da Nang. People often rave about Sapa mountains and the indigenous people there as well as Ha Long Bay.
The negatives of living in Vietnam include: 1) it's a communist country where you need a visa to enter which can be a hassle 2) facebook is blocked but you can obviously proxy but its still a pain 3) living a large city can be quite congested and polluted, living outside the city may not have all the comforts of home (movie theatres, western restaruants). 4) Tourism isn't developed compared to other countries such as Thailand so people will try to rip you off if you're a tourist. Less so as you become accustomed.
I would say go and visit; see how you like it and decide then if you'd like to stay. In the larger cities, an increasing number of people are able to speak English but it just depends. Let me know if you've got any questions.
Fellow TL'er
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Thank you for your posts and sorry for my delayed response I wanted to reply properly and just was too busy with work and being lazy to actually reply.
NonFactor I liked your idea of staying with a family so I did some research and found that there is a company called KoreaStay that organises people visiting Korea to stay with Korean families who want to learn about other cultures too. It costs between £20 and £35 per night for a room and breakfast, but I can probably get it cheaper since I was looking at a more long term stay. Staying with a Korean family will give me a much better experience and insight into Korean culture than I would likely get from staying in hotels or other types of short term accommodation.
My current plan is to stay with 1 family in Seoul or Incheon for maybe a month and use that as my base to travel around the north west of SK and then stay with another family in Busan and use that a base to travel around the South East.
Also I guess this just became another generic "I want to go to Korea" blog.
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